The Miami Dolphins lost a couple of major talents on both lines of scrimmage in the first day of free agency this offseason. Both DT Christian Wilkins and G Robert Hunt reached nine-figure deals with new teams in free agency.
Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel met with the media on Monday morning at the NFL owners' meetings in Orlando and stated the team had to be fiscally responsible regarding not overpaying to keep their stars from leaving.
Indeed, spending the money that would have been necessary to keep Wilkins or Hunt in Miami would have been foolish. Kid-like, as McDaniel says. Wilkins earned a four-year, $110 million contract from the Las Vegas Raiders. Hunt signed a five-year, $100 million deal with the Carolina Panthers.
Matching either one of those offers would be like Chris Grier going into a Toys-R-Us and buying everything with Mom's credit card. That bill would come due, and Mom and Dad would be in the poor house in short order.
Instead, paying the water bill turned out to be a pretty attractive option for Miami. The Dolphins landed Jordan Poyer on an incredibly club-friendly one year, $2 million deal. They added one of the top free agent corners available in Kendall Fuller. They addressed linebacker with veterans Jordyn Brooks and Anthony Walker, Jr. They addressed a massive need with G/C Aaron Brewer. They added veteran pass rusher Shaq Barrett to fill another major roster hole. And they have room to add more, as evidenced by their pursuit of Odell Beckham, Jr., who visited the Dolphins' facility last week.
It was a no brainer to let Wilkins and Hunt leave. The overall roster is better for it. But it's still nice to hear McDaniel address the decision for what it was: child's play.
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